Sunday, March 02, 2008

Humboldt County Probation cops can't be Case Managers.

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At Tuesday’s Board of Supes meeting the Humboldt County boring Supes will give their subservient nod to revoking the probation department’s performing of “mental health” services. Of course they are not doing this act because they want to, they're doing it because a higher legislature saw the stupidity of allowing probation officers to be simultaneously mental health case managers.

Although this is one of those “one step forwards” in the “one step forward two steps back dance,” separating those that are supposed to heal from those who punish is a good move. Unfortunately the cops and mental health are starting to forge bigger and more oppressive Memorandums of Understanding (MOU) to terrorize the mentally ill.

Soon the mental health will have their Mobile Drugging Unit (MDU) stocked with a couple of cops and a goonish, Haldol syringe packing mental health orderly. They will be able to declare anyone they choose “mentally ill,” and shoot them full of Haldol on the spot. Anybody, anywhere, for any reason can be doped and then brought before a Judge who will sentence them to a life of highly toxic nut-pills. It doesn’t matter how “sane” you were before, because the Judge only believes you're sane now because you're on anti-psychotics.

We must insist that the cops leave doctoring to the doctors. Law enforcers are not a very smart or compassionate way to help the mentally broken. Law enforcers are robotic mercenaries. They enforce laws designed to prevent the wealthy and ruling class from being “bothered.” That doesn’t bode well for those who truly need medical help.

Secondly we must insist that if the psychiatrists are going to force people to take anti-psychotics then we need professionals in place to get these people “off their meds” safely.

5 comments:

ok, i agree that cops shouldn't be allowed to decide who's "mentally ill," especially considering the shaky ground that some cops stand on, but are the "doctors" going to be conscious of the human rights of those that fall under their care? Haven't you been warning all about the evil intentions of those that held the title "doctor" in germany in the 30's and 40's?

One thing that maybe we can do is learn for ourselves what we need about anti-depressant drugs, their addictiveness, negative side-effects, and how to come off them, for ourselves. **I have to say, though, that i am not an expert, and have not taken any of those kinds of drugs** It's just a thought. I know that AK Press recently put out the "Harm Reduction Guide to Coming Off Psychiatric Drugs" http://www.akpress.org/2007/items/harmreductionguideI have no idea how good it is, but maybe our own studies, intuition, and genuine desire to heal ourselves and others will be more helpful than "professional oversight." Maybe it depends on each situation an each individual.

The mental health community will not diagnosis people the probation department sends to them though it will send them back to the jail with a sack full of various meds.

I have experience of this and one young man is dead, in large part, because few of the people in any agency are willing to do their job. Judges routinely order treatment that doesn't exist and people end up going through a regimen that would make a saint turn to drugs. This young man told me that people at the AA meetings he was attending tried to sell him drugs.

People, including attorneys and people who have professional experience with probation that a law suit is in order but I feel it is a waste of time.

I assume the moratorium on diagnosis is to save money by preventing people in need to get SSI or other costly services.

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